Make Your Point: GRUNDYISH

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pronounce GRUNDYISH:

GRUN dee ish

connect this word to others:

A high five to Dave, a supporter who found the word Grundyish!

Mrs. Grundy is that oh-so-proper neighbor who's out there clutching her pearls whenever you do anything slightly improper. "What will Mrs. Grundy think?" She comes from a play by Thomas Morton titled Speed the Plough, from 1798. And I find the idea of her so relatable: that there's a Mrs. Grundy out there silently judging us: for real, or just in our imaginations.

See if you can recall these other labels for people that also derive from literary characters:

1. A Gr__gr__d is someone cold, hard, overbearing, and way too focused on facts, especially numbers.

2. A P___yanna is someone whose happiness and optimism is unrealistic and over-the-top.

3. A poco____te is someone so laidback and blasé that absolutely nothing impresses them. You could stage a brilliant ballet performance followed by a five-star banquet for them, and they'd yawn.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

Here's that 1798 play Speed the Plough that I mentioned, by Thomas Morton, the one with a snooty, upright, holier-than-thou Mrs. Grundy. Her neighbors always worry about what she'll think, because she's appointed herself the queen of manners and proper social behavior. But here's my favorite bit from the play, toward the end:

"I'll go to church in a [cheap outfit]—and let Mrs. Grundy turn up her nose as much as she pleases."

Yeah! Take that, Mrs. Grundy! We don't care what you think! (Well, more easily said than done, right?)

Since 1813 or so, we've used her name to label anyone who acts like a stuffy old authority on proper behavior. And since 1883 or so, we've used the word "Grundyish" to describe things and people that are overly proper in a narrow-minded way, and casting judgment on anyone who isn't the same.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective, the proper kind, so you capitalize it: "She's so Grundyish;" "It was a Grundyish age back then, with people harrumphing at tattoos."

Other forms:

The noun for the person is "Mrs. Grundy," as in "He's just another Mrs. Grundy."

And the noun for the concept is "Grundyism," meaning "the idea or practice of expecting everybody to conform to overly proper, narrow-minded rules."

how to use it:

Pick the rare, literary, insulting word "Grundyish" if you don't mind having to explain the reference and if you're trying to emphasize just how stupid it is for someone to be imposing their weirdly specific sense of morality on the rest of us.

You might talk about Grundyish people, groups, rules, traditions, or expectations—or about the people who reject them or rise up against them.

examples:

"They eat and drink and scheme and plod—
They go to church on Sunday;
And many are afraid of God—
And more of Mrs. Grundy."
— Frederick Locker, London Lyrics, 102, 1874

"As a professional author living by his pen, [D. H. Lawrence] had to accept, with more or less good will, stringent editing by a publisher's reader in his early days, and at all times the results of his publishers' timidity. So the fear of Grundyish disapproval, or actual legal action, led to bowdlerisation or censorship from the very beginning of his career."*
— Mara Kalnins, forward to the Cambridge edition of D. H. Lawrence's Apocalypse and the Writings on Revelation, 2002

*Thanks to Dave for finding this example!

has this page helped you understand "Grundyish"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "Grundyish" without saying "prudish" or "mincing."

try it out:

Check out this snippet from Walter de la Mare's novel The Return:

"'And this Nicholas Sabathier; you say he was a blackguard?'

'Well,' said Herbert with a faint smile... 'He wasn’t perhaps on Mrs. Grundy's visiting list.'"

Based on what Herbert said about him, what kind of person is Nicholas Sabathier? And, would you personally rather be on or off Mrs. Grundy's visiting list?

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

This month, our game is "Sarah In Dip a Day!"

I'll give you some song lyrics that contain a sophisticated word or phrase—but I'll swap it out for what you might hear if you didn't know that word or phrase.

Your job is to find the spot where the lyrics quit making sense, then reinterpret those words as the artist actually wrote them.

Here's an example:

"I'm on a one-way street,
My fall from grace complete,
But I feel that there's a hazard hanging over me.
But I take away the feeling that I can't see,
And now you say to me
Sarah in dip a day."
—Amaranthe

Here, the meaning breaks down at "Sarah in dip a day," which should read "Serendipity."

Try this one today:

"For the wishes of the demon in black,
My large S in life should be immortality,
Dislike the weak, mortal humans."
—Anathema

If you need some clues, highlight the hidden white text below.
1. The part that needs to be changed is..."large S"
2. The term that's being sung means..."a generous gift "
To see the answer, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. The opposite of a MRS. GRUNDY could be

A. a FELON or a CRIMINAL.
B. a REBEL or a RULE-BREAKER.
C. a PURITAN or a GOODY-GOODY.

2. Grundyisms are _____

A. conventional rules, such as "You must remove your hat while indoors."
B. phrases used by sailors, such as "between the devil and the deep blue sea."
C. pranks played on new recruits, such as instructing them to go water the fake plants or mop the walk-in freezer.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > GRUNDYISH

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